Gestalt practice: a reading of Gestalt Therapy (PHG)

Abstract

"Abstract: Perls, Hefferline and Goodman’s Gestalt Therapy (1951/1972, hereafter PHG) describes two ‘twists’ in being. The first occurs when the organism, appreciating its vulnerability, resolves to defend itself by constructing with others a familiar and foreseeable world. To understand this twist depends on understanding PHG’s take on the organism’s existential dilemma. The second twist is when the organism acts to move beyond its defensive posture and open to what is strange and different in the world. To understand this twist depends on understanding what PHG means by ‘spontaneity’. Translating the concepts and theories surrounding these twists into forms of Gestalt practice requires action that deconstructs familiar perspectives in order to open the practitioner more fully to the world. Key words: ambiguity, Gestalt Therapy, organisation development, contact, experience, practice."